WIZARDS IN THE CITY (The 2016 New York Comicon of Charles D. Soule)

It’s here! The insanest weekend in the intensest city – New York Comicon rolls around once again. My schedule is packed – I’m tabling, paneling, signing and partying, all of which I hope to do with all of you. I’ll lay it all out here, and then we’ll see what we can see.

First and foremost, let’s talk about this “Curse Words Wizard Party” I’ve been social media-ing about for the past few weeks. As you may already know, the Unsinkable Ryan Browne and I have a new book coming out for Image Comics – it’s called CURSE WORDS, and it’s about a nice, cool wizard appearing out of nowhere one day in NYC and becoming a spellcaster-for-hire. Many twists and turns ensue, not least that he’s actually a nice, cool wizard at all – he’s a TERRIBLE, EVIL wizard who was sent here to destroy the world. Uh-oh! We call it Lord of the Rings meets Breaking Bad, but with magic instead of meth – and it’s kind of funny.

The comic is ongoing, and begins in January. It’s already gotten some really nice coverage in Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter, but we want to keep getting the word out – hence the Wizard Party. The amazing people at Image were kind enough to let us take over part of their big NYCC event at Bowlmor Lanes Times Square on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7. We’ll be in a club room on the 3rd floor called the Luna Lounge, starting around 9. Details:

Now, what the hell is a Wizard Party? Well, it’s sort of a variety show, featuring:

Live music from The Wizard Band (literally a band of wizards, who play songs either about magic or that actually ARE magic);

A live-read performance from the book with comedians from the NYC Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (and emceeing from Jeremy Bent, also part of that doughty crew);

Wizard Trivia with fabulous prizes;

A raffle for yet another fabulous magical prize – everyone who comes to the Image Party gets a ticket, FREE (until we run out):

Also, assuming FedEx doesn’t mess me up on the delivery today, everyone who comes to the Image Party will also get a pair of THESE BABIES, FREE (while supplies last):

Ryan and I will also be giving those away at our tables (X-2 and X-3 in Artist’s Alley), free with every purchase of the Curse Words Exclusive Preview comic, a look at Issue 1 of the book in advance of its January debut (again, while supplies last):

So, that’s the Wizard Party. We’re excited about this book, and wanted to do something fun to get the world out a bit – hope to see you all there.

Beyond that, here’s my day-to-day schedule:

ALL DAYS – I am at table X-3 in Artist’s Alley, sandwiched between Ryan Browne and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque, the incredible artist of my series Letter 44. Should be a blast. As you read the info below, keep in mind that this is a crazy show, and things happen. If the schedule below changes, I’ll probably tweet it (follow me @charlessoule) or I’ll try to have a sign at my table.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6 –

This is the busiest day. I intend to be at my table from 10-11 in the morning, but then…

11-12 AM – I’m doing the long-running WRITERS UNITE panel with my good friend Jim Zub. It’s a process panel, where we talk about breaking into the business, how to construct a good script, all that stuff. It is A MUST for anyone interested in writing comics on any level. We really focus on useful information, and it’s always fun.

12:30-1:30 PM – BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY – yet another panel about getting into comics, this one more Marvel-specific. Always helpful and interesting.

2:30-3:30 PM – SIGNING AT THE COMIXOLOGY BOOTH IN ARTIST’S ALLEY – Believe it or not, I have a trading card this year! I’m part of the second series of Comixology-created Comics All-Stars cards, and I’ll be signing them here.

4:30-6:15 – At my table.

6:30-7:30 – IMAGE COMICS: ADVENTURE – A story-breaking panel with Greg Rucka, Simon Spurrier and some other awesome folks, at which we’ll talk about making tales that really pop.

As you can see, I’ll only be at the table that day for two windows, both a bit short. It gets better over the course of the weekend, I promise.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 –

11-12 AM – STAR WARS: A WRITER’S ROUNDTABLE – offsite from the main con, at 500 W. 36th Street (a block away), at an event called BookCon. I’ll be talking all things Jedi and droids with a murderer’s row of authors, including Timothy Zahn, Chuck Wendig, E.K. Johnston and James Luceno. Holy crud! This might be my most looked-forward to part of the con – other than the Wizard Party, of course. I can’t believe I’m part of this.

12:30-6 – At my table. Might take the occasional break so I don’t die, but my intention is to be there for this chunk of time.

9 PM – THE WIZARD PARTY!!! (See above.)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 –

10-2:30 – At my table. I have something to do around 11, but otherwise I intend to be here.